What is Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)?

 

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is an intervention that is used to produce contractions of weak or paralysed muscles. It involves the application of multiple electrical impulses to motor nerves of the intended muscle group (Johnston, Forst, Jones & Backus, 2015; Martin, Sadowsky, Obst, Meyer & McDonald, 2012).

 

How can our therapists utilise FES to help you achieve your goals?

 

Our therapists will design a program that is tailored to your goals and demands. We use FES as an adjunct to physiotherapy interventions for spinal cord rehabilitation.  We will teach you how to use FES so that you can incorporate this intervention at home to ensure that we are optimising your rehabilitation regime.

 

We offer this technology in a form of a stationary exercise bike so that you can keep up with the recommended guidelines of 30 minutes of vigorous exercise 5 days a week. Alongside cardiovascular benefits, FES is also used to maintain/build muscle mass, improve strength & respiratory function, reduce spasticity, enhance neurological & functional performance and improve quality of life.

 

The current evidence around FES

 

• Participants with complete or incomplete SCI demonstrated increased stepping responses and central pattern generator activity following FES intervention (Martin, Sadowsky, Obst, Meyer & McDonald, 2012).

• Reports of improvement in lower limb ASIA motor and sensory, and decreased spasticity, which indicates that there is some degree of neuromodulation and remeditation of paralysis in response to stimulation (Martin, Sadowsky, Obst, Meyer & McDonald, 2012).

• Lower limb FES-cycling can enhance neurological and functional performance, increased muscle size and force generation potential, reduced spasticity and improve quality of life (Sadowsky et al.,2013).

• Improve respiratory function in both acute and chronic stages of SCI (McCaughey, Borotkancis, Gollee, Folz, & McLachlan, 2016).

• Increase muscle mass and improve bone mineral density (Deley, Denuziller, Casillas & Babault, 2015).

 

Considerations of FES:

There may be some considerations that you need to consider before utilising FES, which include: (Johnston, Forst, Jones & Backus, 2015):

• Slow progression of time spent performing FES-cycling

• Monitor skin status

• History of fractures

• Check alignment of legs

• Medical status

• Autonomic dysfunction

• Leg range of motion

• Client sensation

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For any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.